I need your opinion, please

Grad If you remember, many people jumped on board when I asked for feedback on advice to college grads on how to get their first job.  I promised to make an e-book.  Which is now complete.  50 pages –lots of great advice.

But here’s my question.  When I originally created it, I wanted it to be visually appealing so I added photos to many of the pieces.  Which grew to be a very large file.  So now I am what people’s tolerance for download size is.

Which e-book would you download?

High quality photos with the content — 3 mg

So-so quality photos with the content — 1.5 mg

No photos with the content — far less than 1 mg.

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21 comments on “I need your opinion, please

  1. Gavin Heaton says:

    Give me pics. I am over text only! This is the digital age people … remember … pictures?

  2. Mike says:

    How about putting it in a zip file, which will negate the large size and give them the super-duty pics, a little audio and some video of you on a unicycle 😉

  3. Chris Punke says:

    I’m with Cam. 3MB isn’t much. My DSL can chew that up in under 30 seconds, and my Cable Modem is only a tiny bit slower. For an eBook… I’d wait.

  4. MIke Colwell says:

    Give me the great pictures!

  5. 1. Photos is a must
    2. If you’re going to have photos, don’t settle for so-so

    For the record, I just graduated from the University of Iowa yesterday. I can’t wait to read this 🙂

  6. Anna Farmery says:

    I would vote for the choice although probably download the text – spot the time starved person!

  7. modern era broadband.
    make it 40mb and include posters 🙂

  8. I guess it would depend on what the photos say; I’m assuming they add substance to the content. My vote is with the choices and I’d go with the idea of making #1 and #3 available. Definitely bag #2; either good pics or no pics.

  9. I’m with Carolyn, good pix or no pix and give folks the choice.

  10. imon says:

    If these pictures add something to the text — help illustrate a point, for example – then include them and I’d be happy to download.

    If they’re just for design, I (personally) would prefer good typeography and page design to achieve an attactive product over heavy pictures.

    But that’s just a personal preference.

  11. TJ says:

    When is this available? My brother will be finishing up school at Iowa and I’d love to give it to him. Thanks Drew, that’s an awesome idea.

  12. Connie Reece says:

    I want to have my cake and eat it too; use the high-quality photos. 3MB is not that large a file.

  13. Paul McEnany says:

    High-quality for me!

  14. Art Dinkin says:

    For me it is not so much the size of the file (3 MB is nothing to download today), but how will it look on my palm pilot? If the pictures distract from the text on my PDA, then I would rather do without them. Otherwise, I am all about the pictures.

  15. Option 1: pictures, please! Images always communicate so much — the eBook may not be the same without them.

    I say pick only one version to make available, also, so everyone sees the same book, so it become recognizable, so its brand starts to build… 😉

  16. Thought of something else…

    Still keep the images in, but have both a hi-res (3MB) and lo-res (1MB) file. The higher one looks better/for printing, etc. and the lower one is for emailing.

    Some non-profits I’ve worked for have really low bandwith. One couldn’t accept any email attachment more than 3MB.

    The e-book has such an international scope and reach, and might get sent to so many different people and organizations worldwide, I think it’d be wise to offer two sizes of the same file so people could pick what would work best with their tech constraints.

    OK. I think I’m done now. 😉

  17. David Reich says:

    Drew, I’d opt for the mid-level so it’s 1.5 megs. Otherwise, it’ll run the risk of filling my email in-box if some other big files happen to come in that same day.

  18. How about offering all 3 as well.
    I would probably take the one with the pictures. We are such a visual culture!

  19. Thanks to everyone for weighing in on this question. A few disclaimers and comments:

    1) There will be no video of me on a unicycle. A guy has to keep some dignity!

    2) I will provide a with and without photo option so everyone can choose.

    3) I don’t want to overstate this but I am a writer. So this e-book is filled with great content but it is hardly a design masterpiece. I used the same font throughout and added some pictures to give the advice some depth and visual interest. Please do not expect an Armano masterpiece. My 13 year old could have done the same with powerpoint.

    Watch for the downloads tonight or tomorrow night at the latest! Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.

    Drew

  20. Nathan says:

    I’d offer the option of all pics or all text. I don’t see size being a large factor since most college students are probably connecting on a campus line or high speed connection, and the ones who are going to be downloading the e-book will take the time to get whichever size. At least I would.

  21. Nathan,

    Thanks for weighing in. I did exactly as you suggested and offered up the 3+ mg version and the text only option. Please spread the word…I want as many students as possible to find this great resource.

    Thanks,

    Drew

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